this is bbc world news today, broadcasting in the uk and around the world. i'm peter gulacsi. —— geeta guru—murthy. it was badly hit. malaysia and police confirm there was an air of chemical attack on the korean leader's brother. donald trump hits out at the press and confirms he intends to build the wall on the border with mexico. we are building the wall. and claudio ranieri's sadness at being sacked just nine months after winning leicester city their only premier

league title. hello and welcome. police in the say a highly toxic nerve agent called vx has been found on the face of kim jong—nam, the murdered half brother of north korea's leader kim jong—un. mr kim died last week after two women accosted him briefly in a check—in hall at kuala lumpur airport. the nerve agent, vx, is classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the united nations. our correspondent rupert wingfield—hayes reports from kuala lumpur. last week at kuala lumpur airport someone chose to attack kim jong nam last week at kuala lumpur airport someone chose to attack kim jong—nam in full view of at least half a dozen cctv cameras. it was a very deliberate and very public act of violence. today we learned what killed him. and it's even more shocking. it is the vx nerve agent, which is a chemical weapon. kim jong—nam was walking across this

busy departures hall last week when he was attacked at this spot. now we know what was used to kill him, vx, one of the most deadly nerve agents ever invented. just a tiny drop, one hundredth of a gram, would have been enough to kill him. vx is also banned under international convention, and yet someone decided to use it here in the midst of this international airport. vx is colourless and odourless with, the feel of engine oil. it is so deadly it is classified by the united nations as a weapon of mass destruction. symptoms include coughing, shortness of breath, vomiting and muscle convulsions. south korea says the north started producing chemical weapons in the 1980s and has up to 5000 tonnes of stocks. north korea's young dictator kim jong—un already has nuclear weapons. some think he is now sending a chilling new message, by killing his older brother with the world's deadliest nerve agent. what they have demonstrated

is that they do have a weapon of mass destruction, vx, which has the potential to kill many thousands of people. they have shown that they want to be part of the weapons of mass destruction club and that they should be ta ken seriously. and if we do nothing, then we're going to be the more we learn, the more bizarre this story becomes. this is one of the alleged assassins taking part in a vietnamese tv talent show. this is her facebook page. nothing about her suggests she could be a killer. about the only thing we know for sure is that kimjong—nam must have died in excruciating pain. his body convulsed, his lungs gasping for air. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in kuala lumpur. joshua pollack is the editor of the nonproliferation review and a leading expert on nuclear and missile proliferation. he joins us now from washington. thank you for your time. can you

tell us a bit more about this nerve agent? vx is an especially potent nerve agent, and has traditionally been used as a battlefield weapon, not as a tool of assassination. the only exception i am aware of where some attempts in the 1990s by a group injapan the boys in some of their enemies with vx among other chemical and biological agents —— groupjapan to chemical and biological agents —— group japan to poison chemical and biological agents —— groupjapan to poison some of their enemies. it had mixed success. the success enemies. it had mixed success. the success of this was not in doubt he suddenly. what do we know about how it was made, whether north korea has it was made, whether north korea has it and has used it? it is a

synthetic chemical. it has long been strongly suspected that the north koreans have it. it is one of the preferred military nerve agents. you can read for example south korean defence ministry papers on the subject which suggest that vx and also selling are the mainstay of the north korean chemical arsenal. this report, if it is accurate in the end, tends to confirm they do have vx, but it does not tell us a much. can you explain a bit more about the biological effects on the victims hit with this, and also what about using this drug, it seems a pretty

exotic approach? well, yes, the effects. it is inhaled, absorbed through the eyes or even through the skin, and if that happens it will cause a lot of the body systems to shut down. i think approximate cause of death is that you stop breathing because your central nervous system stops telling you to breathe and your muscles that control your breathing also fail. i would say that the power of this agent, and it is an especially deadly agent, using it in an exposed public space, especially in a foreign country, is especially in a foreign country, is especially provocative and is likely to have consequences for north korea's relationship with malaysia,

among other countries, along with china which apparently had extended some form of protection to the late kim jong—un some form of protection to the late kimjong—un —— kimjong—nam. so there will be consequences. there are there will be consequences. there a re really there will be consequences. there are really two hypotheses right now about the decision to use this nerve agent. firstly, that it was meant as agent. firstly, that it was meant as a demonstration of north korea's capabilities and its willingness to use them against its enemies. a warning that it could enhance its deterrence of south korea or the united states. another hypothesis is that the agent is so exotic, so unusual, as a tool of assassination, that it would not be detected in time by the malaysian authorities who would hand over the body to the north korean authorities and nobody would ever be the wiser. that may

have been what the russians intended with polonium in london seven years ago. sorry to interrupt, joshua pollack, we are out of time, but we do appreciate your time and expertise. iraqi forces are launching attacks on a neighbourhood in the west of mosul a day after troops recaptured the city's airport. mosul is barack‘s second—largest city. it fell to is in june 2014th and the iraqi military operation to retake it began in october last year. government forces retook the eastern side across the river tigris last month. the river, which splits the city in two, is now the front line. iraqi forces advanced into the western side via the south on sunday, moving in on the airport, and also cutting off exit routes to the syria border to stop is militants from escaping. well, our middle east correspondent quentin sommerville is with the iraqi army in western mosul, and — as he's been doing

throughout the week — he's sent a flurry of tweets from the front line. here's a look at part of his story today. and quentin‘s twitter address is of course on—screen there. donald trump, speaking to the conservative wing of the republican party at an event in maryland, has renewed his attack on the media. he said "fake news outlets" where the enemy of the people. he also said he was going ahead with building the wall between the us and mexico. for too long we have traded away our jobs to other countries. so terrible. we have defended other nations‘ borders while leaving ours wide open so anybody can comment. we are going to build the wall, don't worry about it. —— anybody can come in. in fact, worry about it. —— anybody can come in. infact, it worry about it. —— anybody can come in. in fact, it is going to start

soon, way ahead of schedule. we ahead schedule. —— way ahead. way, way, way ahead of schedule. i am not against the press. i don't mind bad stories if i deserve them. and, i tell you, i love good stories, but i don't get too many of them. but i am only against the fake news media or press. fake, you're that worried. i am against the people that make up stories and make up sources —— you hear that word. they should not be allowed to use sources are mostly use somebody‘s name. we are also putting in a massive budget request

for our beloved military. and we will be substantially upgrading all of our military, all of our military. offensive, defensive, everything. bigger and better and stronger than ever before. and hopefully we'll never have to use it. but nobody is going to mess with us, folks. nobody. well, another line coming out of washington at the moment, the white house correspondents' association has protested about some journalist are apparently being excluded from a press briefing. china wass from several organisations were told they could not attend an off—camera meeting —— some journalists from several organisations were told. laura bicker is in washington for us. what do we know about this? from

what happened today, we understand the white house press officer sean spicer said they have expanded the call to include other networks, including the likes of the right wing conservative publication and the washington times. when they included the list from today's briefing, these were allowed in, but we understand certain others were not, including the bbc, cnn, the new york times, political and others. i have a statement from our editor in washington and he said he understands the white —— white house restrict certain press, however he says on this occasion selected media we re says on this occasion selected media were not allowed to attend including the bbc. the bbc has a representative at every daily white house briefing, so we are not clear why we were barred from today's and we are seeking clarification from

the white house press team. that is going on at the moment. hejust mentioned there the white house correspondents' association is all school —— also asking why this has happened. apart from referring to the press again publicly in maryland, donald trump also spoke about that wall, which is not going away. the new us delegation has been in mexico as well this week? yes, that was interesting. he said they we re that was interesting. he said they were ahead of schedule when it comes to plans for that border wall and work will start soon. the first we have heard there. there were other interesting briefings within that speech, where he spoke about a plan thatis speech, where he spoke about a plan that is being developed to combat the so—called islamic state. we heard a bit about a plan during his campaign, one he said that would not be made public, but we now understand our plan is being put together. i think the biggest cheer

for his speech today, and remember this is almost preaching to the choir, the right wing conservatives happy to have a right—wing president, and the biggest cheer came during the america, first, when he said he would fight for american jobs and american democracy. laura, from washington, dc, thank you very much. stay with us on bbc world news — still to come: something of interest to the friday night team in the newsroom, we will look at the new drive in japan night team in the newsroom, we will look at the new drive injapan to get people to leave work early on fridays. the conservatives have beaten labour to win the cumbrian seat of copeland in yesterday's by—election. but labour held stoke—on—trent central seat, seeing off a challenge from ukip. but the reaction from jeremy corbyn, and first the prime minister. this is an astounding victory for the conservative party but also for the conservative party but also for

the people of copeland. you know, labour have held the seat since the 19305. a party in government hasn't won a by—election from the from a seat held by the opposition for 35 years. i tell you what happened yesterday, people came out, worked and knocked on doors to deliver a message, a message about the economy, aboutjobs, message, a message about the economy, about jobs, about message, a message about the economy, aboutjobs, about this country, but above all it was a message that hope triumphs over there. —— message that hope triumphs over fear. this is bbc world news today. iam i am geeta guru—murthy. the latest headlines: the brother of north korean leader kim jong—un was reportedly killed by a nerve agent in malaysia. donald trump has claimed he will build the

wall on the border with mexico ahead of schedule. remember his rally last weekend in florida, those comments about sweden? those comments but a lot of attention and he touched on that again today... i took a lot of heat on sweden. and then a day later i said, has anybody reported what is going on? it turned out they didn't. take a look at what happened in sweden. i love sweden, great country, great people. but they understand i am right. the people over there understand i am right. take a look at what is happening in sweden. the comments mr trump was referring to concerned a fox documentary about alleged violence in sweden. 0ur correspondent has been to malmo, one of sweden's most diverse cities to see what the situation is really like. you look at what was happening last night in

sweden, sweden! who would believe this, sweden! since donald trump's comments there have been that has been attention on sweden's approach to immigration. it the more refugees per capita than almost any nation in europe. many settled in malmo, home to one of sweden's most notorious neighbourhoods. what is it really like there? translation: there are a lot more problems in the us than in sweden, so problems in the us than in sweden, so he should solve the problems in the usa first then he can talk about the usa first then he can talk about the problems here in sweden. bullies in sweden did not publish

data on the ethnicity of criminals but they tell us that in malmo, one of sweden's most diverse cities, crime has gone down actually in the last year. but at the same time fear of crime here has gone up —— police in sweden. it is this that is driving support for the country's nationalist party who believes donald trump was right to link crime and immigration. there are a lot more problems here than we see in more problems here than we see in more swedish parts of sweden. i think the military should help the police get control of these areas. you one for me to going? yes, exactly. the swedish government says discussion of no—go zones is wildly exaggerated. when we spend the night there we did not see any outward signs of trouble. so was this typical? most of the nights are like this, 0k, typical? most of the nights are like this, ok, we have problems and we

cannot deny that and we have things to work on, absolutely. but, overall, i would say it is quiet. and safe. many locals say they are fed up your feeling and safe. many locals say they are fed up yourfeeling like political footballs in a global debate about immigration, a debate plenty would like to call time on. let's get some of the sport now. lizzie greenwood—hughes has all the latest. a rather shocking editor to a football fairy tale? yes, thank you very much. claudio ranieri has claimed his dream died after he was sacked as manager of leicester city. he has now become one of sport's most famous victims after the success of last year. bbc sports editor dan rowan reports. at least

there is still some loyalty left in leicester. claudio ranieri and the city both came to terms with his dismissal, the miracle worker out of work —— dan roan. emotions among the neighbours, running high. work —— dan roan. emotions among the neighbours, running highm work —— dan roan. emotions among the neighbours, running high. it is a disgrace! having masterminded the least likely and most popular triumph ever seen in the premier league, the italian has become the victim of its most controversial sacking. nine months ago he was the toast of leicester... but the fizz has long gone, today's press conference flat. the man who stood beside him in the dugout was left to describe his mood. a bit shocked, as we all were, but his tone was no different. very level—headed in terms of, that is football. can you categorically say he had not lost

some parts of the dressing room, claudio ranieri? there was a lot of frustration because of results but he had not lost the dressing room. but the ruthlessness of the dismissal has shocked even those spent a lifetime in the game. former leicester star gary lineker did not just present claudio ranieri with coach of the year, he paid a very public prize for doubting the team's success and he is angry. just to toss that all the way of a premature decision, over a disloyal... and in many ways a lack of gratitude, it is quite gobsmacking. i am not ashamed to say that last night when the news broke i shed a tear, i shed a tear for claudio, for football and for my club. since then the euphoria has evaporated. the champions languishing one point above the relegation zone. the club's thai

owners said the club was in trouble and they decided to act. the fans are divided. for me, i would have kept him. to find out he had been sacked after what he did last year, disgusting. it was not long ago claudio ranieri helped bring the city to a standstill. many wanted him to stay forever but the journey has ended faster than many imagine. apologies there for the sound problems on that film. the former great britain coach brian noble says he is certain rugby league can be a success in north america. he is now coach of the toronto wolfpack, a canadian team who have begun life in the third tier of british rugby league and have plans of reaching the super league. thanks to the better toronto winter they will play half of their home games in england before playing the remainder in canada. they will have to fund their opposition‘s travel and accommodation. they play in the challenge cup tomorrow live on the bbc sport website. back to you.

thank you. thousands of workers in japan had the chance to go home early today in the country's first ever premium friday, part of a drive to tackle japan's notoriously long working hours. all offices are being encouraged to close early on the last friday of every month. people dying from overwork injapan is such a long—standing problem that it even has its own words... a long—standing problem that it even has its own word... translation: extraordinary! i will not tell you

what we are all saying in the newsroom here. it is of course 24/7 here at the bbc, and we don't mind! all very happy to be here. carry on watching, because bbc news continues in the coming hours, and i am on twitter, @ geeta guru—murthy. i will see you soon. twitter, @ geeta guru—murthy. i will see you soon. hello there. good evening. there will be a detailed look at the weather in the uk for the weekend and beyond. right now we will look at some weather stories elsewhere around the world, starting off in north america. around the great lakes, a lot of activity on the radar. a mixture of rain and fairly significant snow on the

northern flank. lots of isobars wrapped around here, snow blowing around and accumulations could be quite large for some in eastern canada. an act of cold front moving across the north—east of the united states that will bring some overnight rain —— active cold front. temperatures will really be getting away quite dramatically. new york, boston, washington, the middle high teens, low 20s, then by sunday firmly in single figures. at least there should be some sunshine to go with that. the cold air probably will not stay too long. back into double figures early next week. when recently, you can see liz calder drifting in from the south with outbreaks of rain with it. —— when hazard —— buenos aires recently, you can see these outbreaks of rain. down here, sunshine, 20 or 24

degrees in cairo. into the low 30s in lagos and in the middle east, thicker cloud, outbreaks of rain and perhaps the odd rumble of thunder. that stretches back to words the third riyadh area. pretty quiet across much of south asia. perhaps a shower or two towards sri lanka, bangladesh, lots of sunshine for much of india and pakistan as well. temperatures down here about 34 degrees, peaking in the mum by area. about 39 degrees. —— mumbai. more of the same to come through the first pa rt the same to come through the first part of the weekend over here. a shower or two in bangkok. brighter skies in south korea and it will be bright and breezy in tokyo with temperatures around about nine or

ten. low 30s further south. australia, high—pressure keeping things under control for most places. a couple of showers coming in on that breeze on the east coast. what is left of storm doris head to the north of russia, and some rain associated with that in northern turkey. another spell of wind and rain on the way but nothing like we saw on thursday for the united kingdom. the latest headlines from bbc news. kimjong—nam, the the latest headlines from bbc news. kim jong—nam, the half the latest headlines from bbc news. kimjong—nam, the half brother of the north korean leader was killed bya the north korean leader was killed by a highly toxic nerve agent according to police in malaysia. the exes classified by the united nations as a weapon of mass destruction. iraqi forces have moved into western mosul as they intensify their battle in driving so—called islamic state from the last major stronghold in iraq, they are

responding with mortars and sniper fire. donald trump said that america will be bigger, stronger and better than ever before, speaking to the conservative wing of the republican party, she also said that the mexican wall is ahead of schedule. the french financial prosecutors have opened people